Asus’ latest graphics card is both powerful and adorable

The days when Ars would cover every individual graphics card that hit the market are long behind us, but we couldn't resist this little guy's charm: Asus recently announced its GeForce GTX 670 DirectCU Mini, a 6.7" long graphics card with a name that's longer than the card itself. If you want to build a tiny, mini-ITX based gaming PC that can be packed up and carried easily, normally you have to make room in your case for an absurdly long card, or make do with a shorter card with lower performance. By combining a high-end (though not top-end) GPU with a shorter card, Asus wants to give you another way around this problem.

Nvidia's GTX 670 isn't the fastest card around, but it's generally within spitting distance of top-end single GPU cards from both AMD and Nvidia. This card in particular includes a 928MHz GPU that can be boosted up to 1006MHz, 2GB of GDDR5 RAM clocked at 6GHz on a 256-bit interface, and a variety of ports. DVI-I, DVI-D, HDMI, and a full-size DisplayPort are all available.

While the card is a good deal shorter than its full-size cousins, it's still quite wide: the cooler required to keep all of this running smoothly still takes up two slots, so you'll still need to account for this if you're trying to build a miniature version of the computers in our latest System Guide. It also requires an external power connection, so you'll need a power supply that's up to the task.

52 Reader Comments

That's pretty sweet. I've been building mini-ITX workstations at work, After building a few and enjoying how much desk space they free up, I'm thinking I need to build one for a home PC, getting rid of a pretty massive tower.

However the main thing holding it back was decent graphics. All the workstations just use the intel integrated graphics.

This is fantastic, but I'm wondering about its application. As far as I know, most mini-ITX cases (like the Silverstone SG08 I own) are already designed to accommodate full-length graphics cards. If one or two case manufacturers make smaller cases specifically designed to take advantage of just how short this card is, that'd be great, but I don't know that it'll happen.

"It also requires an external power connection, so you'll need a power supply that's up to the task."

I'm not a system builder, what does this mean exactly? Just curious.

A quality power supply at ~350W

It seems nice, but I wish they had been able to fit the cooler into a single slot. There are more good looking HTPC cases that are designed to fit a full-length (8"+) cards than there are designed to fit a 2 slot cards.

"It also requires an external power connection, so you'll need a power supply that's up to the task."

I'm not a system builder, what does this mean exactly? Just curious.

It means that it can't draw its entire power requirements directly from the system bus and needs an additional boost directly from the power supply. On high-end cards this means two six-pin connectors since they can draw a couple hundred watts at full tilt.

"It also requires an external power connection, so you'll need a power supply that's up to the task."

I'm not a system builder, what does this mean exactly? Just curious.

Just that not all of its power comes through the PCI-E port it connects to. Power supplies have standard power connectors, and often have (one or more) 6 or 8 pin connector designed specifically to supplement PCI-E graphics cards that need extra power. There are also adapters you can get that adjust the standard power connectors on a power supply so that they can provide power for a PCI-E graphics card.

"It also requires an external power connection, so you'll need a power supply that's up to the task."

I'm not a system builder, what does this mean exactly? Just curious.

Many GPUs are powered simply by being plugged into the PCIe port. Lately, modern GPUs are requiring a direct connection from the power supply unit (PSU), via one or two 6-pin Molex plugs, or an 8-pin plug.

It means you power supply will need an 8-pin connector for the graphics card to use. Not all ITX form factor power supplies are designed to handle something that consumes as much power as a dedicated gaming video card.

"It also requires an external power connection, so you'll need a power supply that's up to the task."

I'm not a system builder, what does this mean exactly? Just curious.

It means that the power supplied by the PCIe bus isn't sufficient (I believe it's max 75 Watts), so you need to plug the card into one of the power connectors that feeds off of the power supply itself (they're typically used to power drives).

This is fantastic, but I'm wondering about its application. As far as I know, most mini-ITX cases (like the Silverstone SG08 I own) are already designed to accommodate full-length graphics cards. If one or two case manufacturers make smaller cases specifically designed to take advantage of just how short this card is, that'd be great, but I don't know that it'll happen.

This short card would be useful in a case like the Fractal Node 304 or other small cases were when using a modular PSU wouldn't be allowed because the cables would hit the back of the GPU board. Also, this would just help with cable management in already cramped Mini-ITX cases.

A pair of these ASUS cards (I AM seeing SLI connectors on the top of that card, right?) would have fit more cleanly into my Fractal HTPC case than my pair of full length GTX 660 SCs. They most likely would have left enough room to leave in the extra drive tray I had to remove. What I don't like about these newer minified cards though is that although they run cooler, they don't direct their post-heatsink air out the back of the case, removing not only the heat they generate but also the heat from other things (not to mention completing the airflow circuit started by the case's intake fans).

I know I'm being picky, but in a case with larger, slower moving fans that needs to stay quiet, directing airflow is kind of critical. If these cards were fully ducted like the longer boxy type cards, I'd be 100% on board.

This is fantastic, but I'm wondering about its application. As far as I know, most mini-ITX cases (like the Silverstone SG08 I own) are already designed to accommodate full-length graphics cards. If one or two case manufacturers make smaller cases specifically designed to take advantage of just how short this card is, that'd be great, but I don't know that it'll happen.

Less constraint on case selection is a great thing. There's plenty of jobs I've seen or read about where the builder had to dremel off part of a hard drive cage to shoehorn a massive GPU in a travel-ready case.

A pair of these ASUS cards (I AM seeing SLI connectors on the top of that card, right?) would have fit more cleanly into my Fractal HTPC case than my pair of full length GTX 660 SCs.

Even in larger SLI builds, I can see the ASUS GTX 670 DirectCU Mini being a great option. If it is paired below a standard size GTX 670, it would leave the fans on both cards free to breathe and not obstruct the top card like most SLI setups would. this would give users a quieter, cooler and potentially faster (if heat is restricting the top card from Turbo Boost in traditional SLI setups) setup.

Sadly this is not low-profile, it seems. My HTPC can use a full-length, albeit low-profile card, but would not be able to use this. Oh well, the Radeon 5570 I bought 2 years ago can still play most games at console-level graphics and doesn't tax my tiny 250 watt PSU.

Awww... I read the headline and though that it might be a full-powered low-profile card. Would've give my HTPC a serious boost in gaming performance over my current Radeon 6570

Size constraints? This 670 is still a full fledged 670, just a very short two slot version.

Me, I always build in full or extended towers. Once you start playing with multiple radiators and fully internal water cooling parts, big cases are just more fun to work with (being able to install between 9 and 15 3.5" HDD's doesn't hurt either). I've been eying a Silverstone TJ11 and the soon to be released Corsair 900D as possibilities for the next build out.

All this talk about the 6-pin PCI-E connector on the card makes me remember the hubbub over the Voodoo 6000 and its external power connector. Ahh, those were the days.

Sadly this is not low-profile, it seems. My HTPC can use a full-length, albeit low-profile card, but would not be able to use this. Oh well, the Radeon 5570 I bought 2 years ago can still play most games at console-level graphics and doesn't tax my tiny 250 watt PSU.

If fitting big power into a small form factor is your goal, PCI-e extension cables [see link below] are a much better bet than "miniaturized" GPUs like the one featured in this article.

Building your own case might take a day's doing, but personally, it's well worth the "holy shit" factor of showing up to a LAN with a GTX680, and a liquid-cooled 4.8GHz i7 (a simple solution like the Corsair H100 will do) - all inside less than a cubic foot. Or you also fit high end cards into low profile cases like this Syberia fellow wants to!

Sadly this is not low-profile, it seems. My HTPC can use a full-length, albeit low-profile card, but would not be able to use this. Oh well, the Radeon 5570 I bought 2 years ago can still play most games at console-level graphics and doesn't tax my tiny 250 watt PSU.

My thoughts exactly. This does me exactly zero good if it's not low-profile.

Sadly this is not low-profile, it seems. My HTPC can use a full-length, albeit low-profile card, but would not be able to use this. Oh well, the Radeon 5570 I bought 2 years ago can still play most games at console-level graphics and doesn't tax my tiny 250 watt PSU.

If fitting big power into a small form factor is your goal, PCI-e extension cables [see link below] are a much better bet than "miniaturized" GPUs like the one featured in this article.

Building your own case might take a day's doing, but personally, it's well worth the "holy shit" factor of showing up to a LAN with a GTX680, and a liquid-cooled 4.8GHz i7 (a simple solution like the Corsair H100 will do) - all inside less than a cubic foot. Or you also fit high end cards into low profile cases like this Syberia fellow wants to!

Does anyone put the mobile versions of these GPUs in desktops? A bit more expensive, but I can tell you right now, my GTX 680M is very fast AND remarkably low power. It is apparently the same chip as the desktop 680 but with underclocking and memory engineering to bring down its power envelope to a much lower level. Unfortunately it is quite expensive, but I would think that the lower power requirements would make it VERY quiet with a desktop-quality cooler and VERY desirable for living-room gaming PCs.